The Reaper
by Flamegirl217
Summary: Someone is abducting Gotham's villains. Batman has to find the culprit before the rogues are hurt. Or worse.
1. The Crow

The old building was a reoccurring hideout of his, and it tended to carry noise, which was a good or bad thing depending on the circumstances.

Now, however, it was fortunate, because he could hear the creaking footsteps of an intruder downstairs.

Jonathan Crane lowered the vial in his hand, slowly rising from his seat as he listened carefully. Whoever it was, they were about to discover that they had made a grave mistake.

They had made it to the stairs now, creaking under their feet. They were light-footed, he would give them that. But it was hard to catch the Scarecrow by surprise.

Stepping out into the hallway with no sound whatsoever, a skill he had picked up over the years, Crane held the capsule of toxin tightly in his palm. He moved in the direction of the source of the footsteps, silently waiting for the intruder to show themselves.

No one but the Batman had ever found where he was hiding before. So who had been able to find him in all of Gotham City, in the _exact_ hideout he was currently using? It couldn't have been Nygma; he would have heard his voice jabbering on the moment the green-clad narcissist opened the door. And while Tetch didn't have a talent for over sharing, he too would have announced his presence cheerfully upon entering.

In fact, any he could suspect would have either announced their presence verbally or by crashing through a wall. And it couldn't have been the Batman himself, because he still had all of his bones intact at this point.

The intruder was reaching the top of the stairs now, and Crane slowed his footsteps even further. He waited, pressed against the wall, like a snake poised to strike. The _moment_ they showed their face…

The footsteps stopped abruptly, and Crane halted his breath. Perhaps they had seen him. He backed away, still following the wall, until he was able to duck back through a doorway. He waited, and soon enough the intruder resumed their stealthy stride. Finally to the top of the stairs, and then through the hallway, directly towards where he was hidden.

A smirk twisted Dr Crane's lips. Just a little closer…

As soon as they were close enough Crane darted out, and as he went to throw the capsule his wrist was captured in an almost bone-crushing grip. Crane grimaced, and when he saw who the grip belonged to he physically faltered. The beak of the black-coloured plague mask, combined with the draping sleeves of the dark robe gave the intruder the appearance of a giant crow.

"What do you think you're-" Crane cut off his sentence with a hiss as the Crow's grip tightened on his wrist, to the point where the capsule of fear toxin involuntarily slipped from his hand. The Crow snatched it out of the air with its free hand, blank eyes of its mask still staring at Crane. He gritted his teeth before sneering at the intruder in black.

"If you think that you can do this-" Again he wasn't allowed to finish, the Crow shoving him back roughly. He fell gracelessly to the floor, clutching his wrist. Crane snarled at the Crow, and the capsule was slammed mercilessly against his face. Crane cursed himself for using the more potent toxin, but that was quickly replaced by panic as the chemical flooded his system. His eyes widened as the Crow became just that, an inhuman monster of black feathers and a sharp beak, with eyes blazing like fire. More crows joined it, the ones from the chapel that had picked and clawed at him as a youth. There was a loud squawk before they were suddenly upon him, piercing his skin with their beaks.

He shouted and called for help, trying to crawl away from the monsters, before they parted and all he could see was the Crow before it came for him with flesh-tearing talons.


	2. The King Of Hearts

Oh dear, oh deary, oh deary dear dear dear.

Jervis Tetch continued to repeat 'Oh dear' to himself as he ran, darting down alleyways in an attempt to escape both Batman _and_ the police.

Inconveniences, all of them. Here he was looking for the late guests for his tea party, and now _he_ was going to be late. Poor Alice would be so worried, the poor dear.

Jervis darted around another corner, and a smile of relief flooded his features. The haberdashery was just up ahead, if he could make it in time than his pursuers would run right past like the White Rabbit in a hurry.

Sirens were becoming only more noticeable in the distance, and Jervis quickened his pace to almost a sprint.

Oh for the love of the Blue Caterpillar! He felt like Alice during her encounter with the Red Queen, running as fast as he could but never getting anywhere. At this rate the police cars would drive right _over_ him.

Jervis, distracted by his uffish thoughts, almost ran right into the door. He stumbled back, but then grinned as he threw open the door and darted inside, slamming it closed behind him. He let out a long breath of relief, laughing despite himself.

He had made it! Callooh callay, he had made it!

Jervis continued to laugh as he locked the door for good measure, and then backed away until he was leaning against the large table, still set up and ready with numerous teapots, cups, and pastries.

Jervis shook his head with a smile, still in a mood halfway between relief and disbelief. Disrelief!

He chuckled before letting out a yelp and jumping back as something connected with the table with a loud _thunk_ , breaking it in two. He stared with wide eyes at the gleaming axe, the handle still held tight by its owner. Dressed in startling red with a crown atop its head, the familiar card suit adorning its sash.

The King Of Hearts.

Only, instead of a real playing-card face, the King had a smooth, white, almost featureless mask.

"Y-your Highness…" Jervis stuttered, backing away from the King, "W-what are you doing?" The King of Hearts said nothing, yanking the axe from the table with several splinters flying off, before stepping towards Tetch.

Jervis could see his own reflection in the blade of the axe, and his eyes once again widened out of fear.

"Your M-Majesty, please." His voice trembled as he shook, almost tripping over himself in an attempt to escape the King's wrath. The King Of Hearts continued to move towards him, each step slow and almost silent.

He didn't understand what was _happening_. The Queen was the one who always shouted 'Off with their head!', the King was the one who pardoned those who were ordered to be executed. What had caused the King to act like this?! This was madness, even in Wonderland!

"I'm a poor man, your Majesty." He pleaded, back against the door, "Please, spare me."

The King Of Hearts grabbed him by the collar, the axe blade dangerously close to his face, and Jervis whimpered before the King Of Hearts slammed him against the door.

 _Still_ the King made no sound, and he winced as he heard the axe hit the floor with a metallic clatter. He was about to question when something was jammed into his neck, causing another yelp to escape him. The King Of Hearts released him and he crumpled to the floor, trying weakly to gain his footing as everything blurred around him.

He looked up at the King Of Hearts, and let out another feeble sound before everything darkened.


	3. The Villain Reaper

Batman surveyed the scene with a heavy frown. The haberdashery, true to its mad owner, had been set ready for the victims he had planned to kidnap for his next tea party. He had known that Tetch would come here to try and hide, but chaos seemed to have broken out in that time. The large wooden table was chopped in two, broken fragments of crockery lying scattered on the floor, and Tetch had disappeared by the time he had arrived.

Batman exhaled through his nose in exasperation before he caught something glint off the light of a flashlight of a GCPD officer. Batman's frown deepened as he walked forward and picked up the object, a long-handled axe similar to the one Tetch used, but with a thicker handle and without the heart-shaped adornment topping the blade.

Batman's eyes narrowed at the axe as Commissioner Gordon stood beside him.

"So who do you think it is this time?" The commissioner questioned, "Crane? Cobblepot? Someone new?"

"I'm not sure." Batman replied, examining the handle. There were no fingerprints; whoever had done this had worn gloves. Clever.

"I'm going to get to the bottom of this." Batman promised, placing the axe on a broken half of the table. Gordon followed him outside, where several police cars were parked and still had their lights flashing.

"I'll see what I can find and get back to you." The commissioner briefly glanced up at Gotham's night sky, "And I'll make sure that this is kept quiet. The last thing we need is for Gotham to think that there's a new threat to worry about." Batman nodded, and then left the police force to their investigation, grappling away to conduct his own.

~O~

It had not been kept quiet. Before noon the newspapers were running with the story of villains being kidnapped. 'Villains' instead of just 'villain', because when they had infiltrated Jonathan Crane's hideout thinking that he was the prime suspect for the Mad Hatter's disappearance, they had found that _he_ had been mysteriously taken as well.

"The papers are calling him 'The Villain Reaper'." Alfred Pennyworth remarked, standing beside the Dark Knight in the Batcave.

"Let's just hope he doesn't make good on that title." Batman replied. In truth, he was concerned. The Mad Hatter could be easy to overpower, when caught by surprise, but to subdue _Jonathan Crane_ , who had given _him_ enough trouble in the past. It must have taken a lot of skill, or cunning, to do something like that.

"And just how do you plan to find someone able to take down someone like the Scarecrow so quickly without leaving so much as a single fingerprint?" Alfred questioned, raising an eyebrow, and Batman pressed a few buttons on the Batcomputer's keyboard.

"There are several connections the culprit could be using to find his targets. A personal grudge, knowledge that Crane and Tetch are acquaintances,"

"Possibly even the closest thing those two have to friends." Alfred interjected.

"Or something more complex." Batman finished, nodding in agreement, "I have to find out who's doing this, and if they're going to go after someone else."

They may have constantly endangered the citizens of Gotham City, but if someone was hunting down the members of the so-called 'Rogues Gallery', then he had to save them before they were seriously hurt.

Or worse.


	4. The Doll

A small apartment on the corner of Gotham. That was where Mary Louise Dahl currently resided. She lay on the sofa with a bored expression, continuously flicking through TV channels. Her lip curled as she came to a re-run of the television show that had destroyed her life, and she turned the TV off before throwing the remote away with distaste.

Just once, she would have liked for someone to take her seriously. Someone, _anyone_ really.

She sat up properly on the sofa, propping up her chin with her hand as she frowned.

She needed to think of what she was going to have for dinner.

As she was considering it, something suddenly clamped over her mouth. Mary let out a muffled cry as she struggled against whatever was holding her, instantly thrashing helplessly like the child she appeared to be. She bit down on the thing, a hand, before darting off the sofa frantically. When she saw what it was, her eyes widened.

A doll. A giant doll, like the one she had carried that had a gun inside. Only a blank white mask covered the face of it.

"Who are you?" She asked, "What do you want?" She backed away as the Doll moved around the sofa, shaking her head and causing her blonde curls to bounce against her face.

"What do you _want_?!" She shouted. Once again, there was no reply, and Mary bolted towards her bedroom.

Slamming the door behind her, Mary panted as she looked around for a place to hide. For possibly the only time in her life, she was glad to be the size of a toddler as she scrambled under the bed.

Who could possibly have been after her? Batman? No, it couldn't have been. He wouldn't have done this, _frightened her_ like this. As dark and as brooding as he was, he wasn't a complete monster. So who _was this_?!

Feet pressing against the wall behind her, she held a hand over her mouth to stop any sound escaping as the door creaked open slowly, spilling light into the room. She trembled as the blue-covered feet moved from the doorway to the side of the bed, stopping suddenly and causing her to shrink back.

If she could just stay silent, maybe whoever it was wouldn't find her…

The feet moved away from the bed, and she bit back a breath of relief. She moved forward ever so slightly to see if it had left…

…And then let out a cry as a fistful of her hair was grabbed roughly.

The Doll yanked her roughly out from under the bed, and she felt tears run down her face as her head was turned to the inhuman creature.

"Please…" She begged. The Doll remained silent, and then she felt something pierce her skin and slowly, everything blacked out.


	5. The Basement

Mary Dahl. Mary…goddamn…Dahl. Of all the people that _monster_ had to go after…

Batman's fists clenched in anger and frustration, but mostly outrage. Of all the rogues, Mary was probably the most good at heart. It hadn't been her fault that she had been born with her condition. She was misunderstood, frustrated, and maybe even angry as well.

And now the 'Villain Reaper' had gotten her as well.

Batman had to stop a growl from escaping his throat, and he instead stomped towards Mary's bedroom.

Once again, almost no evidence had been left behind to tell that someone had been abducted. No fingerprints, DNA, nothing. The only indication that anything was out of place was that the bed had moved slightly, as if bumped during a struggle. The carpet had a miscoloured square as a clear sign. Batman frowned, and then looked at the side of the bed that was most likely where the culprit had stood. His eyes narrowed slightly as he noticed something stomped into the carpet. A red piece of wool, the end slightly frayed. It reminded him of the hair of Mary's doll, but this piece of 'hair' was much longer.

Collecting the piece of wool, Batman looked around the room once more before walking back to the living room in case he had missed anything.

~O~

A scowl stayed permanently on his features, eyes scanning the room for the fifth time in god knew how long. Jonathan Crane shifted uncomfortably in the straight jacket he had been forced into.

"Jonathan! Jonathan! We need to get out of here!"

"Shut up Jervis!" Jonathan snapped. As if he didn't _know_ that they needed to escape. Kept here in cages, stuck in a dark, dingy basement, it was as if they were no better than animals.

Jonathan looked across the room to Jervis's cage, where he was once again trying to reach through the bars. Whoever their captor was, they had _deliberately_ left Tetch's hat just out of reach.

Crane had thought over this already. Taking away Jervis's hat but leaving it in plain sight, putting _him_ in a straight jacket, they were both things that they each personally hated.

Their captor sought to psychologically torture them. It was evident in both this and in the personalized costumes to disorientate them. This was something that he wanted to investigate further. After he had found their captor and them pay, of course.

"Would you two stop…" Mary called from her own cage, sitting against the bars, " _No one_ is coming for us."

"Which is why we must escape ourselves, my dear." Jervis replied, pausing in his effort to retrieve his hat, "Our captor seems to want to let us rot here well past tea time." Jonathan rolled his eyes, but Tetch was right. They barely even caught a glimpse of whoever or _whatever_ was keeping them here. They appeared only long enough to throw their latest rogue in a cage, and then left again.

"Dr Crane, isn't it?" Mary turned her head to him, and when he nodded shortly she continued, "You've been here the longest. Do you have _any_ idea on how to get out of here?" Jonathan decided to give the short answer.

"No." He shifted uncomfortably again, and Mary frowned before sitting back down. Jonathan had to admit that it was…odd, to hear an adult woman's voice coming from a young child, but it was something he could easily adjust to.

"Maybe if we tried to negotiate with-" Jervis stopped abruptly, and he and the other two turned to the door-less entrance to the room. They could hear the sound of something heavy being dragged, or possibly, some _one_.

When their captor finally came into the room, Mary gasped.

Their captor entered the room, dragging Harley Quinn's unconscious form behind them. Her harlequin jester hat was gone, blonde pigtails dishevelled and clown makeup smeared. She was covered in bruises and scars.

Jervis's eyes were wide and even Jonathan looked shocked, watching speechlessly as their captor threw Harley in an empty cage and locking it.

Mary and Jervis recognized the white mask, but Jonathan didn't, and he blinked.

There was something else rendering them all speechless.

Their captor tore off the purple tailcoat, throwing it away in disgust. They kept the mask on, however, even as much as they seemed to hate their latest costume.

"You _monster_!" Jervis exclaimed.

"How could you do this?" Mary shouted. Their captor turned to her, and her eyes widened as they moved towards her cage. She backed away, but their captor never neared the cage. The mask stared at her vacantly, and Mary cautiously moved back to the bars of the cage.

"Why are you doing this?" She asked. Their captor stared for a moment, and then lowered to their knees so they were almost eye-level with Mary. They reached up with one hand, and pulled the mask off their face. Mary's eyes once again widened at the mouth stitched together with thick black thread.

Her captor once again pulled the mask on their face, and walked back out of the basement, crushing Tetch's hat under their boot on the way through.


	6. The Enigma's Father

This was possibly one of the strangest things to ever happen in Gotham. And _that_ was saying something.

The GCPD were tracking down Gotham's rogues, not to incarcerate them, but to _protect_ them. This 'Villain Reaper' was turning everything upside down.

Already, opinions had been made and argued about the matter. Some believed someone was _finally_ dealing with the problem and were praising the culprit, while others were saying that despite being criminals they were still human beings, and they didn't deserve to be hunted and abducted like this.

The debate was still strong, and so was Batman's determination to find the Reaper. Soon enough, they would slip up, and he would take them down.

Gordon and the police were going after the obvious ones first, like the Penguin, but Batman was looking for someone more dangerous…more notorious…and more obnoxious.

"Well well, look who it is." The voice of the man he was thinking of spoke through the hall of the maze, "You know I wasn't expecting company, Batman." Batman frowned and quickly ran around the first corner of the maze.

He was going to save him whether he liked it or not.

"You're in _danger_ -"

"Well so are you!" He declared, cutting him off. A booby trap burst from the wall beside Batman, and he quickly ducked to avoid it.

~O~

He smirked as he watched Batman try hopelessly to make it through the maze. Already, the Bat's cape seemed to be a bit torn.

If not anything else, he was always prepared, and he wouldn't be going back to Arkham Asylum anytime soon. He _promised_ that.

A blade barely missed the top of the Dark Knight's skull, and he smirked again as his gloved finger pressed a button.

"Better hurry, Batman. You seem to be slipping a bi-" The Riddler was interrupted as he was grabbed roughly by the back of his collar and thrown away from the keyboard, hitting the floor with an 'oof'.

"Just _who_ do you think you-" He cut himself off with a gasp, eyes widening as he looked up at the thing in front of him.

He knew that clothing. That dirty, unkept clothing of a drunkard. A familiar drunkard.

"N-N-No, it can't be you…" He scrambled back frantically, panic gripping his insides as the Father moved towards him. Its face was hidden by a white mask, like the unpainted face of an unfinished doll.

"Stay away from me!" He shouted, unaware that the link to the speakers for the maze were still _on_.

It couldn't have been, it _couldn't_ , how could he, he _couldn't_ , he _couldn't_ find him…

The Father grabbed him by the purple tie around his throat, and his eyes grew impossibly wide.

He hadn't felt this kind of fear in a long, long time, and not until the Father shoved him back into the wall, causing him to fall to the floor with a grimace.

 _"You idiot!"_

He could hear his father's words in his mind, the memories still fresh, and his grimace became a sneer of both pain and anger. The Father stepped forward and kicked him in the side, causing him to let out a shout.

"Get away from me!" He snarled, and he was struck across the face.

 _"You stupid, worthless piece of nothing!"_

He bit back tears, and with a roar he lashed out at the Father. He missed, and was punched in the stomach. Stumbling back with the breath knocked out of him, a hand curled around his throat as he was punched across the jaw.

 _"Moron!"_

He once again hit the floor, and Riddler shook his head desperately.

"I'm sorry…I'm sorry…" He apologised, hoping that for once it would appease the monster standing over him. He tried to crawl away, but the Father grabbed him by the ankle and dragged him back, slamming its heel into his side. He yelped helplessly, and he was grabbed by the tie again to be pulled up. The green bowler fell from his head as a needle was jabbed into his neck, and he grimaced again.

"I'm sorry…"

He saw the Bat burst into the room, but then there was an explosion and shortly after, he lost consciousness.

~O~

He slammed his fist down on the desk. He had been so close, _so close_! He had made it through the maze, hearing the struggle and panic through the speakers as the Reaper found the Riddler.

He was able to find Riddler's control room just in time to see the Reaper grab Nygma, and then a bomb had gone off and he had lost them. When the smoke cleared, Reaper and the Riddler were gone.

Batman turned back to the Batcomputer in frustration. He should have been faster; instead of wasting time in Riddler's maze he should have found a way straight to the control room. Now, he had nothing!

No, not nothing. He had seen a glimpse of the Villain Reaper. Batman turned to the white fragment he had sitting next to the Batcomputer keyboard.

The Reaper had dressed like Nygma's father. Most likely as a personal attack to prey on Riddler's weaknesses. But he had worn a mask, which had lost a piece in the explosion.

A mask meant possible DNA.

Possible DNA meant he would finally have a face to match the name given by the papers.

Batman turned back to the computer, quickly getting to work.


	7. The Complication

"Idiot…moron…I'm just stupid…so stupid…"

Jonathan Crane held no expression on his face as he looked to the cage beside Jervis.

"Edward, get a hold of yourself!" Jervis exclaimed, "What's gotten into you?" Jervis jumped back as the white mask was thrown at his cage, and he and several of the others turned their heads to the Reaper, who stood in the middle of the room rubbing their temples irritatedly.

"Difficulties in your master plan?" Jonathan asked, and the Reaper glared at him. The Reaper pointed to Riddler, who was still crumpled in the corner of his cage muttering to himself. Jonathan's eyes narrowed, and the Reaper pulled out one of the vials of fear toxin they had stolen from Crane's lab.

The message was clear; if they didn't shut up, they would have their own dose of their worst fears flooding their veins.

"What exactly is your plan here?" Jonathan questioned, leaning forward slightly, "To break us? Turn us into nothing more than brain-dead vegetables and then keep us here as trophies?"

The Reaper shook their head, and while Jonathan might have expected a smile of pride or smugness, their captor only kept their frown.

So this wasn't a matter of a competitive desire to capture them, or even the thrill of doing so. Interesting. Something deeper then, more personal.

"When Mista J find out about this he's gonna…" Harley promised weakly, still barely able to pull herself up to a sitting position. The Reaper had seriously injured her, and not just to incapacitate.

The Reaper stomped over to Harley's cage with a sneer, grabbing a pigtail and yanking hard so her head hit the bars. Harley yelped, and Jervis jumped to his feet, along with Mary.

"Stop it!" Mary shouted angrily, "Let her go!" The Reaper stared at Mary for a moment, and then released Harley, who fell to the floor with another yelp.

"Are you always so yielding?" Jonathan asked snidely, raising an eyebrow. The Reaper whirled around and stomped to Crane's cage with a sneer. They threw a vial inside of his cage, and Jonathan's eyes widened as it shattered and released the toxin.

"You'll pay for this." Jonathan threatened.

The Reaper, as always, remained silent.


	8. The End

There was always a reason. There was always something lying behind the desire to harm, the desire to kill and maim. _Everyone_ had a motive for their actions.

And now, he knew that motive.

"Well, given the circumstances, it's not surprising that the Villain Reaper chose to act out this way." Alfred remarked. Batman hummed in agreement, looking at the name and image on the Batcomputer screen.

"And now I know _exactly_ where to find them." He replied.

~O~

He… _hated_ …him. Them. Whatever.

Jonathan Crane positively _radiated_ rage as he rested against the wall of his cage. He still flinched and felt a twinge of panic whenever there was an overly loud noise, a side effect of the toxin not yet wearing off.

He was going to _kill_ the Reaper.

"…March?"

"What?!" Jonathan snarled, and Jervis shrank back, holding his destroyed hat close to his chest. Jonathan sneered before turning his head away.

Did he _honestly_ care about upsetting the Hatter?! No, no he did not.

"Would you both _stop_?" Riddler questioned, ghostly pale and looking like he was about to throw up, "You're giving me a migraine."

"If you were really as smart as you say you might have figured out a way to get us out of here by now." Mary remarked flatly, arms crossed, and Riddler glared at her.

"No one asked your opinion, _homunculus_."

"Edward!" Jervis exclaimed, looking horrified that he would say such a thing.

"Leave her alone!" Harley shouted, and Jonathan winced.

"Child, if you do not lower your volume I will be forced to do something that I may very well regret later." He growled, and Harley instantly quietened.

The stress and desperation was clearly getting to all of them. Bickering, snarkiness, insulting each other…it all came down to being locked away with barely any space to move.

At least in Arkham they could _walk around_.

Any further argument was halted as a loud shout came from the doorway, followed by someone tumbling through it. Whoever it was, they must have fallen down the stairs connected to the doorway.

"Mr Dent!" Jervis exclaimed in surprise, and Jonathan glared at the Hatter, who unfortunately didn't notice. Two-Face tried to pull himself to his feet, but before he could the Reaper was suddenly upon him, sneering with fury as they grabbed him by the collar and punched him across the jaw repeatedly. The Reaper released Dent only to kick him roughly, sending him sprawling once again. Dent spat something and then _literally_ spat, and the Reaper dragged him across the floor. Dent clawed at the Reaper's arms, and the Reaper repeatedly hit his head against the floor.

"What're you doing?!" Harley exclaimed in shock, grabbing the bars of her cage. Even Jonathan was mildly surprised. The Reaper had _never_ used this kind of brutality before. There was no strategic thinking behind it, just pure emotion. It was enough to make Jonathan, even in his current state, raise an eyebrow.

The Reaper continued to attack Two-Face, hitting him in the stomach and coming so close to breaking something that Dent could feel it with each hit. The Reaper hit Dent across the jaw once more before grabbing him by the collar and slamming him against a cage.

"Tobias, stop."

The Reaper's head snapped around, glaring angrily at the brooding figure standing in the basement entrance.

"B-man!" Harley smiled for the first time in days, and the other rogues were admittedly glad to see him, even Crane. Hell, even Riddler looked overjoyed.

"Release him." Batman ordered. The Reaper continued to glare, never even relaxing his grip on Dent's collar.

Batman moved forward slowly, so as not to provoke him. The Reaper, Tobias, was very close to _another_ mental breakdown.

He had his hands on the man who had killed his wife, after all.

"Batman, Batman get us out of here!" Mary exclaimed, and then added in her Baby Doll voice for good measure, "Please help us!"

"I believe _I_ am first in line." Crane pointed out flatly, and shrugged his shoulders, "I'd like to finally escape this _damn_ jacket."

The Reaper glanced around the room, sneer returning and straining on the black thread holding his lips together as he looked back down on Dent.

"Tobias, you don't have to do this." Batman told him, still moving forward, "They'll get what they deserve. But they don't deserve this." The Reaper looked at Batman, still silent but his eyes speaking volumes.

"I know." Batman replied, keeping his tone calm, "You're angry. You don't know how to live with yourself anymore. But think about what you're doing." The Reaper glanced at Two-Face, and for a split second his face fell.

"Would Rosemary want you to do this?"

All emotion on the Reaper's face disappeared and was replaced with unbridled _fury_ as he wrapped his hands around Dent's throat.

"Tobias!" Batman jumped forward and grabbed the Reaper's shoulders, pulling him back from Dent. Two-Face gasped as the hands released their hold, and he scrambled back against the bars of the cage. The Reaper thrashed and struggled mindlessly, but Batman didn't release him.

"Stop!" Batman ordered. The Reaper still struggled to try and break free, but eventually and without warning, all strength seemed to leave him. He sagged, and when Batman released him he fell to his knees. Tears ran down the Reaper's face, and through all this he had never made a sound.

All of the other rogues watched as their once disturbing captor crumpled in on himself. Batman looked at the Reaper for a moment before unhooking the ring of keys from their place on the wall.

"I'm not sure I understand." Tetch remarked quietly, and Batman glanced at him.

"His name is Tobias Slate. He was a member of the GCPD until he disappeared." He turned his gaze to Two-Face, "You killed his wife, Dent." Two-Face merely stared with no emotion on either of his faces. Jonathan glanced at Harley with slightly narrowed eyes. That didn't explain the thoughtless bruising inflicted on Quinn…

Batman saw the look Jonathan was giving, and he looked at Tobias. After a moment, the Reaper nodded.

"They had barely made it back from the funeral when Joker blew up their building." Batman continued, "He was the only one left."

"They?" Mary questioned, "What do you mean?"

"He had a daughter." Batman looked at Mary directly. The hair may have been different, as well as the dress, but Mary's face was near identical to that of the late, young Bella Slate.

Mary looked at the Reaper in confusion, trying to find words. Batman walked over to her cage, unlocking it and opening the door. Mary stepped out, and looked up at Batman before hesitantly walking towards the still-kneeling Tobias. She looked at him for a moment before putting a hand on his.

"I'm not your daughter." Mary told him gently, "But I know what it's like to be alone." New tears ran down Tobias's face, and he pulled Mary close to hug her tightly. Mary was shocked for a moment, but didn't try to push him away.

She knew he needed this.

Batman remained silent, but then a familiar voice just _had_ to speak up.

"Not that this isn't…interesting, but…were you planning on releasing _us_ anytime soon?" Riddler questioned, and Batman looked at him without showing any emotion in his expression.

The GCPD would be coming to collect them soon. He only hoped that _someone_ would be able to help Tobias.


End file.
